


All The Right Reasons

by Gootbuttheichou, NunuKun



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, College Student Jean Kirstein, M/M, Professor Erwin Smith, Teacher-Student Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-28
Updated: 2016-05-09
Packaged: 2018-06-05 00:17:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6681850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gootbuttheichou/pseuds/Gootbuttheichou, https://archiveofourown.org/users/NunuKun/pseuds/NunuKun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jean is an eighteen year old university student who struggles with school because of anxiety and stress. Luckily for him, he has an amazing professor who is willing to help him- and they gradually find out they have quite a bit in common.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I'm Gonna Make It Alright

**Author's Note:**

> [Noah](http://misunderstood-badboy-draws.tumblr.com/) wrote Jean, I wrote Erwin. 
> 
> Rating will eventually change.

Jean was half awake, his lazy eyelids slowly opening to look at the alarm clock on his nightstand. The red numbers glowing dimly in the dark room, he slowly closed his eyes again and hadn't realized what exactly the time was. That was until- His heart skipped a beat, his eyes shot open and a gasp left the back of his throat. He flew out of bed, cursing and growling over the alarm clock that hadn't woken him up on time. He ran around the room, gathering his clothes and storming towards the bathroom. The boy's roommate clearly wasn't happy with the noise that he was making, yelling that he should stop the bloody noise. Jean made it to the bathroom, undressing completely before stepping into the shower. There wasn't time for him to really wash himself, so he just washed his hair with a shampoo and that was it. He dried himself off, got dressed and ran out of the door. Jean ran down the stairs and opened the door to get outside. He lived in an apartment with a friend of his, they had recently moved in together and we’re doing pretty good. Matthias and Jean weren’t great friends though, Matthias was an odd guy but he was pretty cool and he was actually not home that often so it was almost like Jean lived alone.

Jean got down on the street, mentally panicking. He knew that he had already missed one hour of class, damned be his alarm clock.

This wasn't the first time he had slept past his alarm, nor the first time that his alarm hadn't been waking up as it was supposed to. Jean wasn't a morning person, at all. He mostly slept till around 12PM, still exhausted and feeling restless. Waking up early wasn't exactly something he enjoyed, actually he'd rather live without it if he could. Sadly it was necessary but that didn't make it any easier, he was almost known as "The kid that is always late," by now... Every teacher knew about this, Especially a certain blond teacher, his main teacher in fact. He wouldn't be surprised if he once day just snapped and sent him back home for being late.

Jean was already out of breath, panting as his breathing got heavier and his throat sore. He was in pretty good shape, but as soon as stress and or anxiety was involved his whole body just gave up and said "fuck this." Sadly this was another one of those moments, he could feel a burning sensation in his chest with every breath. His legs felt heavy and it felt like he wasn't moving out of the spot, he swore that he would have passed out if he hadn't been able to see the school further down the road. Luckily he didn't live that far away from the school, which was also one of the reasons his teachers got so angry when late. Jean didn't exactly have any excuses for coming in late, the teachers never seemed to believe him when he explained, they figured that he was lying so they had slowly stopped asking.

Jean got closer and closer to the school, he slowed down once he got to the entrance and panted as if he had ran a marathon. He tiredly looked up at the tall building, cursing under his breath as he stepped inside. The halls were completely empty, not a single sign of a human being which made Jean look around once or twice to make sure that no one was behind him. It was just a stupid habit of his, he had always done that ever since he was little, it was dumb really.

Jean made it to class, his hair wet and dripping down his jacket. His breathing still uneasy as he entered, he should really start running more... "Sorry I'm late," he mumbled at the teacher without even looking at him. How could he? He was embarrassed, what idiot didn't set their alarm?

Not that it was something new.

_**\---** _

Every morning Erwin would wake up at 6AM, go for a thirty minute jog, shower, eat breakfast, then get dressed and drive to work. He always arrived little bit early each day, giving himself time to tidy up the classroom, write assignments on the board, and pull out his graded homework to hand back to the students. The bell would ring at 8:00 sharp, almost everyone would be accounted for in their seats, and Erwin would take attendance.

That was how every day went pretty much, Erwin was always on time and he made sure to look decent and have everything that he would need throughout the day. He was always prepared and if something went wrong, he would have a backup plan so that the students wouldn't be left without any work to do. School was a place where they were to learn whatever they would need later on in life, sadly some of the students didn't seem very interested in their future. Especially one specific student in Erwin's class, it was quite tragic actually.

Speaking of which, he noticed that said student was not in his seat.

“Jean? Jean Kirschtein?” He peered up to see the other students glancing at each other and back at Jean’s seat. Erwin just heaved a sigh and marked ‘absent’ under Jean’s name for the second time this week. He continued to take attendance, and then started his first lesson of the day.

Nearly an hour later, the door to the classroom swung open, revealing a panting Jean, his cheeks flushed from exertion and his hair dripping wet. He didn’t even look at Erwin as he apologized for being late, and Erwin’s lips pulled together in a small frown as the tardy student dropped in his seat.

“How wonderful of you to finally join us, Mr. Kirschtein,” Erwin said coolly. “I hope you won’t exhibit this tardy behavior at detention today.”

_**\---** _

Jean ran a hand through his wet hair, watching small pearls of water drop down onto the wooden desk in front of him. His heart was still pounding in his chest from the adrenaline, soft pants leaving his nostrils as he stared at the floor. Well, wherever he could avoid eye contact with the teacher...

"Of course not, sir..." Jean mumbled halfheartedly, sighing to himself as he dried his cheek from the water running from his scalp. He couldn't believe that this kept happening, he clearly had some habits to get under control. Luckily Mr. Smith wasn't one to get angry, only if he really fucked up which hadn't happened yet…

Jean was used to the detention at this point, but that didn't make it less of a time waste. He still didn't enjoy it and there was a lot of stuff that he would rather do. Despite giving detention regularly Mr. Smith was a good guy, he was a great teacher in a lot of ways and Jean would rather spend a whole day with him than one hour with Mrs. Zoe.

_**\---** _

“I’m glad to hear that. Now,” he exclaimed, calling the rest of his student’s attention back to him, “back to where we left off.” A few students groaned in response, of course they had taken advantage of the teacher speaking to either get their phone out of their pockets or start talking with the classmate beside them.

The day went on as usual: Erwin taught his lessons, answered questions, and called on students when they went over the homework. He also made sure that everyone was engaged, that the students paid attention and listened, that they actually learned the subjects and stored the information in their memories to build upon their knowledge. That’s what Erwin loved best about his job- he felt like he was able to make a difference in some of his student’s lives, helped them find their passions, enriched the young minds so they would go out into the workforce with innovative ideas to help their local communities, their country, the world.

That didn’t mean that everything about teaching was perfect, easy, or fun- Erwin had students that others referred to as ‘delinquents’. But Erwin only saw them as a good challenge- he was known to be determined, take charge, and assess a situation with a cool, clear head.

Thankfully, most of his students were very well behaved and eager to learn, but there was always an exception, and Erwin found himself ruminating over Jean Kirschtein during lunch.

_**\---** _

Jean didn't waste one second to get out of class once the school bell rang, signalizing that it was time for lunch. It was more than just awkward to be in the same room as his teacher, alone at least Especially after being late for the 100th time. He really didn't mean to, it wasn't because he didn't want to go to school, he was just really unlucky to be honest.

Jean headed directly for the cafeteria, joining his small group of friends where his mood lifted almost immediately. He completely forgot about class at that moment, enjoying his time with friends as they ate lunch and had a pleasant conversation about whatever topic appeared.

Of course that nice moment didn't help with all the homework he had, Jean tended to get stressed easily and instead of going through the depressing process of just staring at his computer in silent panic of when the homework was due to. He wanted to do homework, he really did. But as soon as he had more than 2 things in one week, he stressed out. He had tried to just take one thing at a time, but he wasn't able to look past all the other things he had to finish. It was an impossibility for him to be honest, he needed guidance…

Too bad he was too embarrassed to ask for it.

_**\---** _

As Erwin chewed thoughtfully on his lunch, he internally assessed each of his students. It had almost been a month since the school year had started, so he had already memorized his student’s names and faces, and was already starting to figure out who had troubles in what subjects, with studying for or taking exams, or with completing homework.

When he reached that point in his thought process, one of his students immediately came to mind: Jean Kirschtein.

Erwin knew he assigned chapters to read, quizzes to study for, essays to write, and worksheets to complete at home since the school year had started. And as each week had passed and the workload increased, Jean had only struggled more and more to turn complete work in on time.

Perhaps Erwin would ask him to stay after detention. After all, Erwin wanted to help his students.

_**\---** _

Jean leaned back in his seat, continuing to chat with his friends. He seemed like a really open person, but he was actually quite insecure, he just hid it most of the time. It usually came from middle school, where he was bullied frequently and didn't exactly have an easy life when it came to 'home'. He lived with his uncle for a while because his mother lived in another city and only had time for him every second weekend because of… Reasons. His uncle wasn't exactly nice, well more like the opposite. But he pushed the thoughts away when he could. He never hurt him though, his uncle. He was just a real cold guy, he didn’t have much respect for others and especially not the burden of a kid that he suddenly had to take care of...

Jean was much better now though, living with a roommate in an apartment. He had a job at a café and lots of friends, the only problem was school.

The school bell rung to indicate that lunch was over, letting the students rise up from their seats and head to class. Causing Jean's mood to sink a bit, he really didn't want to go back into the classroom. He already felt bad enough for showing up late, but having to admit that he had 'forgotten' his homework would make it even worse.

_**\---** _

Erwin was back in his classroom for a few minutes before the bell rang, making sure he was prepared for his History class. As everyone from his first English class of the day filed in, Erwin noticed Jean walking to his seat with his head down, and a small frown came to his lips. Years of teaching meant that he picked up on the behavior of students who may not have finished their homework- behavior Jean had been exhibiting lately.

“Alright, everyone, settle down and pull out your history homework.”

_**\---** _

Jean's heart skipped a beat once his teacher spoke. His cheeks heating up from anxiety and his hands shakily reaching into his bag for the pieces of paper that held his notes.

_\---_

Erwin watched his student pull their various binders, books, notebooks, folders and homework papers out of their bags, ready to answer whatever number he asked them to. His eyes flitted to Jean, sitting nervously at his desk with his paper in front of him.

_\---_

Every question was asked very simply, with lots of dots and doodles around the answers. He just stared at the papers, almost jolting in his seat when he was asked to answer the first question. His throat went dry and he honestly felt like crying, but he knew that he couldn't. Not here.

_**\---** _

“Mr Kirschtein, can you tell me the answer to number one, please?” Erwin asked.

_**\---** _

Jean cleared his throat, swallowing thickly as he kept staring at the paper. The only response he managed to give was to shake his head, he couldn't do anything else. He couldn't answer the question because he knew that he was wrong and he had only answered half of it, he just couldn't do it.

_**\---** _

Erwin watched carefully as Jean flinched in his seat, and he felt almost guilty when he saw the slight flush and shaking of his hands, the nervous swallowing. Erwin wasn’t the kind of teacher who enjoyed deliberately calling on students who hadn’t done the work, and he certainly wasn’t the type to openly mock the student afterward. He remembered accidentally missing a homework assignment or answering a question wrong when he was a student, only to have his teacher degrade him afterward. He didn’t want his students to be afraid to learn or ask questions- he wanted to help them.

_**\---** _

Jean slowly lifted his eyes from the paper, calming down just a bit from his teacher's soft voice. He did remember what he had said but it still felt like everyone would think that he was stupid for the answers he suggested. Jean nibbled at his lower lip, glancing back down at his papers. He cleared his throat, already able to hear the whispering from other students.

_**\---** _

 “No?” Erwin asked, a bit more softer after Jean shakes his head, trying to reassure him. “You remember what I said at the beginning of the year, yes? Even if you answered halfway, even if you think it is wrong, you can still get credit for trying.”

_**\---** _

Jean tightened his grip of the paper, "I-I wrote that-.." He cleared his throat again, trying to calm himself down. "I wrote that King Henry the 8th... Uhm, he had two wives and uhh.. He got them beheaded because they.. Couldn't give birth to sons..." He said, keeping his eyes down on the paper even after he finished talking.

_**\---** _

Erwin let the corners of his lips tilt up in a small, encouraging smile as he went to the chalk board. “Ah, very good, Mr Kirschtein. Now, King Henry VIII had eight wives- the first, Catherine, he divorced for bearing a daughter; the second, Anne Boleyn, he beheaded for bearing another daughter; the third, Jane Seymour, died after beating him the desired son; the fourth, Anne of Cleves, he annulled; the fifth, Catherine Howard, he beheaded for cheating; and his last wife, Catherine Parr, outlived him.” He turned around after writing each name and brief explanation on the board. “Does everyone understand?” He caught Jean’s eye and gave the pupil a small, rewarding nod of approval for being brave and trying.

_**\---** _

Jean let out a relieved breath once his teacher turned around to write on the board, he had held his breath most of the time and was already feeling dizzy. He ran a hand through his dirty blond hair, putting down the paper with shaky hands. His heart was pounding and he was sweating a bit, luckily Mr. Smith didn't ask him any more questions after that which was a relief.

Jean still felt completely embarrassed though, his cheeks were still warm and he felt really tired from being that tensed up. He took a moment to relax, glancing up to see his teacher nod at him. He almost felt his heart skip a beat, he didn't know why but it might have been because of the usual careless attitude from his teachers. It was the first time that a teacher had actually shown him that he was doing something right, yet it was shown by a simple nod. Woah…

_**\---** _

As the rest of the lesson went on, Erwin kept a close eye on Jean. The student had seemed tense after answering the question, but then looked almost surprised when he had nodded to him. Erwin found himself wondering how often Jean had been encouraged to try, and then rewarded for his efforts. From the behavior Jean had displayed since the beginning of school, it didn’t seem like either had happened a lot; that, Erwin thought, is a real shame. Young and curious growing minds needed to be urged to try and think, praised for their efforts, and then have their answers corrected if need be.

If Jean truly was having difficulties completing his homework and feeling confident about it, then Erwin needed to take action fast.

As soon as Erwin assigned the homework for the night, the bell signalling the end of the current class rang, and the students started gathering their things for the next lesson.

“Those of you who have detention, remember to show up on time today,” Erwin called out to the few students in his class who had it- but his gaze was on Jean.

_**\---** _

Jean was quiet for the rest of the lesson, listening closely to what Erwin said. He wanted to take notes but it usually ended up unreadable since he couldn't keep up and had to think about what to write as well. Therefor it always ended up with an empty notepad and a overstuffed head. It wasn't something new to be honest, it had always been this way. He had tried to talk to teachers about it, but they just thought of him as lazy which just made it worse.

Jean sighed once the bell rung, giving him free access to leave as he pleased. There was just one thing, he didn't want to leave the classroom. He watched everyone pack their stuff, some already heading for Chemistry while he had only just started rising up from his seat. He didn't dislike chemistry more than a lot of other subjects, he just felt really tired and restless all of a sudden. That was what usually happened whenever he had felt anxious, all he wanted was to go home and sleep.

Jean started packing his things, wishing that the class would be canceled in last second so that he could go home. There was still time, yet a chance of 1 to a thousand that it would actually happen. Jean swung his bag over his shoulder and headed for the door.

_**\---** _

As the students filed out of the classroom door, most of them chatted with their friends, but Erwin had watched Jean. The boy had watched everyone pack and leave all while sitting, and had only now started to get up. He seemed tired, Erwin thought to himself as Jean slowly packed his bag. Almost as if he didn’t want to go to the next class.

He didn’t want to make things awkward for the boy, so Erwin turned around and started dusting off the notes he’d written down during the lesson, and then prepared the board for the next one. But he turned his head around as he heard Jean swing his bag over his shoulder, and cleared his throat.

“Jean? A word, if you don’t mind.”

_**\---** _

Jean stopped walking slowly, not yet turning around to look at his teacher. It was probably just Mr. Smith giving him the reminder of detention once Chemistry was over, what else could it be? Oh yeah, his sloppily done homework and the notes he hadn't written. It could be a lot of things actually.

Jean slowly turned around, tightening his grip of the bag over his shoulder. His eyes were set on the ground as he mumbled out a quiet, "yes sir." Erwin was the best teacher he had, but that didn't mean he couldn't be lame at times. Detention was one of the things. But besides those negative things, he was alright.

**_\---_ **

When Erwin saw how Jean reacted to being called back, he tried to hold up his hands in an amicable manner, and offered a reassuring smile with a small shake of his head. “Not to worry, Jean, you aren’t in trouble, you already know about detention. And don’t worry, I’ll write you a pass for your next class. I just wanted to remind you again about your homework. Even if you merely guess, you can still receive partial credit for putting something down.” Erwin let his smile widen a bit more. “And you were right, King Henry VIII did behead two of his wives.”

Erwin then took a moment to clear his throat, and hoped he didn’t come off as nosy or pushy, or insinuating of anything negative. “Jean, I just want you to know, if you find yourself struggling with one of my assignments, you are free to ask me for help before, during, or after class.”

_**\---** _

Jean was honestly really surprised about what his teacher had to say, almost speechless. He had never experienced this kind of care or whatever to call it, it was different but really nice...

Jean nodded slowly, still looking shocked at the other. He slowly nodded, bringing a hand to his neck to rub it awkwardly. "Thank you, sir.." He said, sighing softly. All he had to do now was survive chemistry then he would be fine, then he could go home and sleep. Or make homework, as his teacher expected him to.

Jean took a small step backwards, feeling a somewhat warm feeling in his chest as he looked at Mr. Smith's smile. "Thank you," he repeated and sent a small smile back before slowly turning around to exit the classroom.


	2. Life's Better Now Than It Was Back Then

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Detention.

Jean barely finished chemistry alive, his head was aching and he was exhausted to the point where he actually considered to just lay down and sleep in some random corner in the room. But of course, he kept himself from doing that, knowing that it would just give him even more detention to go through. Once the class was over Jean swung his bag over his shoulder and slowly walked back towards his classroom- the only good thing about chemistry was that there was no homework, besides reading some papers they received, so he was going to be alright.

After the last bell rang to signal the end of the school day, Erwin had a few minutes to himself to tidy up the room before detention started. He straightened out the desks, wiped off the chalkboard, and checked the attendance on his email to see who else would be in detention today. 

A few minutes later, the first few kids came trudging into the room, and Erwin made them sign the attendance sheet he’d printed out. “Sit down, please, and no talking. No phones or music, but you are allowed to read or work on your homework. If you have any questions, just ask.” Some of the kids had been in detention with Erwin before and merely nodded in acknowledgement to him. Some of the others were new to detention, so they just nodded meekly and slid into their seats. Erwin sat back in his seat to get a headstart on grading papers; if everyone isn’t in the room in the next five minutes, he’ll close the door and mark the absent students for another day of detention. 

Jean looked down at the black watch around his wrist, his eyes widening as he realized that if he didn't start running now he would be late. He let out a soft breath, literally sprinting towards the classroom. There was no way he would take another day of detention just because he was slow as fuck, and luckily he actually made it in time. 

Just as Erwin was about to get up and close the door, Jean came rushing into the room, panting once again as he dropped in his seat. Erwin merely raised a brow, took a look at the sign-in sheet to make sure that everyone was there, and then got up and closed the door. Once the door was shut, he realized he still had the attendance sheet in his hand, and that Jean hadn’t signed in yet. When Erwin started to walk to Jean’s seat, he noticed the boy didn’t have anything on his desk- no homework, no book to read, not even something to draw with. 

Jean had opened the door, panting like every time he entered the classroom. He had dropped down by his desk, trying to calm himself as he leaned back in the wooden seat. All he had to do now was survive the boredom. 

Usually Jean didn't dohis homework in detention, he would rather just sit there and think of whatever came to mind. Besides, asking for help with everything was embarrassing…

Erwin cleared his throat and offered the sheet to Jean, which caught the student off guard. “Glad you could make it in time, Mr. Kirschtein.” Erwin’s gaze flicked down to his backpack. “Nothing to entertain yourself with for the next hour and a half?”

Jean only got a moment to catch his breath before his teacher stood in front of his desk, he slowly looked up and took the sheet as if he was scared of doing the wrong thing. He sighed in response to Mr. Smith's question, pulling out his pencil case and a notepad just for the heck of it. He then signed in on the paper and handed it back to the teacher, "I don't need anything to entertain me." He could entertain himself with his mind to be honest, all he had to do was think...

Jean leaned back in his seat, he already wanted to go home (he had wanted to go home all day). Hopefully time would fly by, but there wasn't exactly a big chance of that.

“Well, if you say so.” Erwin took back the attendance sheet and then went to his desk, emailed the office the list of students who had showed up today, and then went back to grading his homework.

Detention was pretty uneventful. It was quiet- almost too quiet. Erwin would have rather spent ninety minutes standing, walking about the room, teaching his students, asking them questions and answering their questions. The only reason he’d agreed to watch students for detention was because he had nothing else to do- he didn’t have a family to get home to, or a sport to coach. Besides, he got paid a little bit extra for it. 

Before Erwin knew it, detention was over. “Alright, you’re dismissed, everyone,” he exclaimed after he glanced at his watch. He received multiple groans of relief as the bored students nearly bolted out of the room, and he heaved a small sigh as he started packing his things up.

Jean had enjoyed the silence, he liked to just sit and think. There was a lot to think about too, he especially liked imagining scenarios that was (probably) never going to happen. He was almost about to fall asleep before Erwin dismissed the students and the noise was back. 

Jean slowly rose up, letting out a soft sigh as he started packing his bag slowly. He glanced up at his teacher, nibbling on his lower lip. "So, uhh-" What was he doing? Just hitting up random conversation? At least it showed that he was comfortable around his teacher... "Going home?" He asked despite knowing the obvious answer. He cleared his throat, not knowing where his next words came from. "To the wife and stuff?" He quietly froze, mentally hitting himself. What was with this weird way of acting? He had nothing besides homework to discuss with Mr. Smith, yet here he was!

Erwin blinked in surprise when Jean started speaking to him. Yes, he’d had other students try to strike up friendly conversations before, but this was the first time Jean had done so. But he didn’t mind, so Erwin chuckled amiably. 

“No wife, no. Though I do have Marie to help me grade my papers,” Erwin replied, and he gestured to the picture of his cat on his desk- he wasn’t ashamed to talk about his cat, it wasn’t like he had anyone else special in his life, other than his mother. “Though I suppose she would rather have me pay attention to her instead of reading or watching TV, just like a wife would. What about you? Surely your parents must be eager to hear about your day in school.” He finished packing his bag, turned off his computer, and grabbed his coat from the back of his chair. 

Jean caught a faint smile to his lips, actually positively surprised that Mr. Smith was okay with awkward casual conversation. The young man leaned against his desk, looking up at his teacher as he listened. He was kind of thrown off once his parents were mentioned, but he honestly didn't mind talking about it. 

"Oh uh, well. I don't exactly live with my parents, my dad left my mom and I two years ago, that’s when she started to-" Jean realized that he started rambling and cleared his throat. "I don't speak with him, and my mom lives like an hour from the city. I live in an apartment with a roommate." He rubbed the back of his neck, grinning awkwardly. 

Erwin almost felt bad for asking Jean- he knew that not every student had an ideal relationship with their parents. “Oh… my apologies, Jean, I didn’t know.” Erwin paused for a moment and hoped his next words wouldn’t sound like he was being overbearing or pitying Jean. “My father died when I was thirteen. It’s hard losing someone important like that. But if you don’t mind me asking, you still speak with your mother, yes? And you and your roommate get along well?” 

Jean grabbed his bag, pulling it over his shoulder as he looked out the window. It had started to rain, so he had a great one hour bus ride and half an hour walk to enjoy... "I should get to the bus stop before the bus arrives," he mumbled and slowly walked towards the door. Jean looked up at his teacher, he was honestly quite surprised with how interested Erwin seemed. But of course, it was his job to worry and make sure his students had a nice time once they were home. "I still talk to my mom, yeah. But I only see her every second weekend." Jean shrugged softly, "I'm trying to get more time to see her. But it's difficult, you know?"

Erwin followed Jean and turned off the light to the classroom. Before he shut the door, he spared one more glance at the classroom window, watching the rain. “Well that’s good to hear that you two still talk,” Erwin responded with a soft smile. “It can be quite difficult to see loved ones when they don’t live nearby and you’re both busy, but I hope you and your mother can make it work.” 

He let out a soft sigh, pulling out his phone to look at the clock. He groaned softly, "I missed the bus... I'll have to wait an hour, but I guess I have nothing better to do anyways," Jean said as he shrugged.

Erwin looked down at Jean when he heard his situation. “Oh, dear, that was probably my fault.” He paused in his steps as an idea popped into his head- it wasn’t the most professional, but he certainly didn’t see how Jean would benefit sitting in the rain for an hour.

“Jean, if you’re comfortable with it, I wouldn’t mind driving you home. You shouldn’t have to wait so long for the bus.” 

Jean just shrugged, it wasn't exactly Erwin's fault. It was mostly his own since he knew that he had to hurry, but he couldn't do anything about it. "It's alright," he said softly before he looked back up at Mr. Smith. Drive him home, he said? Jean would skip a boring bus ride any time. "That would be really nice, sir." He said with a simple nod, a small smile on his lips. Mr. Smith wasn't that bad, he just had to put the boring teacher part aside then he was pretty nice. 

Jean was used to strict teachers, even in elementary school the teachers were oddly strict. He wasn't even a bad boy, he had just been unlucky. Talking at the wrong times and such... there had been a lot of misunderstandings, but at least college was alright. No really strict teachers, yet there was much more stress. Which was almost just as bad. Almost…

Erwin returned Jean’s soft smile and started to rummage around in a pocket of his bag for his keys. “Don’t mention it. You know your way there, yes?” He found his keys and opened his umbrella before he opened the door leading outside.

“Here, you can stand under this. Let me know if it isn’t covering you all the way, wouldn’t want you to get wet and catch a cold.” When Jean got situated, Erwin started to walk out into the parking lot and pressed the unlock button on his key fob. As they get closer, he went around to the passenger side door of the car and opened it for Jean so the student could sit inside first. 

“Ah, pardon my mess- you can just move those to the backseat,” Erwin said when he saw the library books in the passenger seat. 

Jean was surprised with how caring Erwin was, usually he seemed pretty calm and collected but this kindness was different. In a good way of course, it was nice to not be around his teacher anymore, now it was just Mr. Smith. 

Jean muttered a soft "thank you," before taking a hold of the books on the seat and gently placing them in the backseat before crawling into the car. He then sat down properly, buckled his seatbelt and closed the car door. It was a nice car, really. Leather seats, it seemed like it had a good system as well. 

"Do you mind if I turn on some music?" Jean asked, it couldn't hurt to try, though he could imagine that a man like Mr. Smith didn't exactly listen to the same music as him. But he was sure that they could find something that they would both agree to listen to, hopefully. 

“Hm? Oh, no, I don’t mind,” Erwin responded as soon as he got into the driver's seat and turned the ignition to warm up the car. He watched Jean stare at his audio system, his finger hovering hesitantly in mid-air as he tried to figure out what button to push.

Jean bit his lower lip, eyeing the stereo carefully as he tried to find the button to the radio... Or the CDs, whatever he could find. He waited for the man to give him permission before he pressed a button with a play sign on it, pressing it almost shyly. His eyes widened as the music started playing.

Erwin was about to point out which button it was when Jean figured it out, and then Erwin let out a groan when a deep voice and rhythmic guitar strumming started to fill the car. 

“-Ery memory of walking out the front door, I found of the friend I was looking fo-”

“Oh, dear,” Erwin said as he lowered the volume so Jean could hear him. “Forgive me, I thought I had taken that out this morning. We can certainly listen to something else, if you’d like.” 

Jean was left speechless, staring at the audio system for more than just a moment. He slowly looked up at Erwin with a grin. "Are you kidding me? I love Nickelback," he said and turned the volume up again. But of course he kept it at a level where they were still able to hear each other. He was still reeling over the fact that his teacher listened to his favorite band.

As soon as he lowered the volume, Erwin shifted the gear into drive and started to drive out of the school parking lot. When he caught Jean’s delighted grin out of the corner of his eye, he couldn’t help but chuckle and grin back. 

"I had no idea you liked this kind of music," he said with an almost impressed chuckle as he casually tapped his fingers on his thighs to the beat of the music. Just another thing that made Mr. Smith better, his music taste was clearly on point. Jean started to quietly sing along as he glanced out the window.

He bit his lower lip and pointed ahead. "Turn left next time," he said softly and let his arm fall again. Hopefully that didn't interrupt their conversation, he wouldn't mind talking to his teacher about his favorite band.

“They’re quite good. I can’t say I’ve been listening to them since their first album, but maybe their… second or third? I remember how ecstatic I was when I finally heard they were going to be here on tour for the first time, and I bought tickets to the closest concert as soon as I could. Listening to ‘Someday’ in concert was one of my best memories. Hearing this song,” Erwin replies as he gestured to the radio, “live is fantastic. So was ‘Gotta be Somebody’.” 

He turned onto the main road and shrugged nonchalantly. “I think many people are surprised when they first hear I enjoy listening to rock music. I also enjoy some blues, R&B, reggae, disco, jazz, swing, and classical- I guess you could say I have varied tastes.” Erwin found his own fingers tapping to the beat along on the steering wheel when he heard Jean singing along quietly under his breath; normally, he would sing along, but listening to Jean proved to be more intriguing at the time. When Jean indicated to take the next left, Erwin switched on his blinker and got into the correct lane, then glanced at Jean. “What other kinds of music do you like?”

Jean was pretty impressed by how much Erwin liked rock music, just the way he talked about it was unbelievable, but in the best way. Knowing that his teacher shared the same music interest as himself was pretty cool, Mr. Smith really wasn't bad. "Oh really? I've never been to one of their concerts, but it would be my dream to go some day." He said with a warm smile, slowly glancing back out the window. "One time my friend asked me if I wanted to go but I didn't have the money since I just moved in with my current roommate, Matthias." He shrugged softly, almost carelessly despite the disappointment it had been.

Jean glanced back at his teacher once he started talking about his interests for different kinds of music, it was actually not as awkward as he had first expected the car ride to be. But luckily they got something to talk about, just because he hit the wrong button. He shrugged softly in response to the question, leaning back in the car seat and stared straight ahead. "I like pretty much every genre, but rock is my guilty pleasure." He chuckled softly and shrugged again. 

“Their concerts are quite fun. It’s a shame you couldn’t go with your friend, but I’m sure there will be more in the future you can go to.” Erwin couldn’t help but chuckle when he hears that rock is Jean’s favorite genre of music. “It sounds like you and I have more similar interests than expected.”

Truth be told, Erwin had felt almost… Hesitant about offering Jean a ride home. He knew most teachers wouldn’t have done it, but he had felt bad about leaving Jean alone in the rain to wait for a bus ride home. But now that they’d found something to talk about, it didn’t feel so awkward. Erwin glanced at the student again, and was relieved to see his student didn’t look uncomfortable.

After a moment Jean pointed a little to the right. “That light grey building,” he muttered with a soft smile. It wasn't exactly a nice apartment, but it wasn't bad either. It was pretty average actually, not too expensive. The only thing was that Jean's roommate, Matthias, wasn't exactly good at helping out with stuff. But Jean needed the apartment, so he couldn't do shit about it.

When Jean gestured to a grey apartment building on the right, Erwin merged into the correct lane, and slowed down before he parked next to the curb. He recognized this part of town- it’s not exactly rich, working students live here, but it’s not a bad neighborhood. Erwin was just glad that Jean lived in a safe neighborhood with a roommate. 

“I’ll wait here until you’re inside,” Erwin said, then he remembered his umbrella in the backseat. “You can have that, if you’d like, so you don’t have to be wet when you go inside.” Erwin realized he could also offer to walk Jean to the door, but he didn’t want to embarrass the boy by offering that. 

Jean was glad that he had gotten to see this side of his teacher, that made him more than just some other guy stressing him out, if that was a way of putting it... It just felt like every teacher was the same, he always forgot that they actually had a life outside of school too. They had normal boring lives with boring jobs, just like Jean. 

He opened the car door, glancing up at the grey building with a sigh and looked back at his teacher once he spoke. He was honestly happy that Mr. Smith at least took the time to make sure he was going to be okay. But of course, he was just a grown up so it was normal.

Jean slowly got out of the car. "I'll be okay,” he muttered as he grabbed his bag and got out of the car. "I'll see you tomorrow, sir," he said quickly before he shut the car door and ran up to the building, where he locked himself inside and walked up the stairs to his apartment.

“Okay. See you tomorrow, Jean, and have a good night.” Erwin offered him a friendly wave through the window as Jean walked into his building, and then he drove home. He’s home by 5PM, and he goes to feed his pet cat Marie before went for another run, took a shower, and cooked dinner. After that, he fell into his nightly routine of watching TV, grading homework, reading a book, and then he got in bed before 11PM. 

The next day, Erwin repeated his morning routine, and as he drove to work, he couldn’t help but smile as he listened to Nickelback. He recalled the conversation he had with Jean the previous night about their favorite band, and he found himself wondering about the boy- if he would be on time to school today, or if he would be late again; if he’d have his homework completed, and be engaged during class. Erwin merely shook his head as he arrived at the school, and he was settled in his classroom a few minutes before the 8AM bell rang. 

Jean entered his apartment with a sigh and dropped his bag on the floor by his feet before he lazily kicked off his shoes. He stepped into the living room and stretched as he sent a grin in his roommate's direction. "Hey," he muttered and slumped down on the couch. 

"What's up? I thought you missed the bus," Matthias muttered as his eyes were locked to the tv screen in front of them. 

"Yeah, I did. But I got a ride, Mr. Smith, the guy I've talked about before." Jean said as he leaned back into the couch. "He's not as bad as I first thought, but I still hate when he picks me out in front of the class. No matter if he does it to be mean or not, it's still shit. He knows that I don't have the answer, so why would he ask me?" 

Matthias just huffed carelessly in response, and didn’t even look at Jean. "Well, if you actually did your homework for once--" Jean rose up before he finished talking, Matthias didn't get it and he wasn't going to try to explain it again. 

Jean grabbed his bag on the way to his room and decided to at least try to do his homework before the day was over. But as always, he didn't get to finish as much as he would have liked. He completely lost focus and all he could do was get stressed and depressed about what he knew was going to happen the next day when he hadn't done his homework, so at last he just gave up and pushed himself away from the desk. He ate dinner, watched a bit of tv and went to bed. That was all he ever wanted to do, sleep. Jean managed to actually fall asleep rather fast, he had just finished an exhausting day so a good night’s sleep was needed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aw, they have something in common
> 
> thanks for reading and for the feedback! ❤️

**Author's Note:**

> This RP was started back in January, and earlier this month Noah brought up the idea of making this into a fic, to which I said " hell yes we can do that."
> 
> I've mentally set this in Denmark (since that's where Noah lives), so that's why a professor can give students detention. It's currently September in this, and Erwin is 36 years old. He teaches both English and History, and Jean hasn't decided on his major yet.
> 
> Hope you enjoy! Reviews are welcomed <3


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